A BARCELONA woman who sought euthanasia and fought off a long legal battle by her father, had her life ended on Thursday.
Noelia Castillo, 25, tried taking her life twice before her death by euthanasia – the second time after she was the victim of a gang rape.
The injuries she suffered from her second suicide attempt in October 2022 – when she leapt from the fifth floor of a building – left her unable to use her legs.
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Her case was the first to reach a Spanish court for consideration since Spain became one of the few countries to legalise euthanasia in 2021.
Noelia died shortly after 6pm on Thursday at a hospital in Sant Pere de Ribes, Catalunya.
For a year and a half, Castillo pursued her right to die after her father put up a long legal fight following a Catalunya medical board approving his daughter’s request for euthanasia in 2024.
The body approved Castillo’s submission based on assessments that evaluated her condition as serious and incurable, and that she had severe, chronic and debilitating suffering.
Spain legalised physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in 2021 for long-suffering patients from incurable diseases and for people with unbearable permanent conditions.
The process for patients to get approval to die involves submitting two requests in writing followed up by consultations with medical professionals not previously involved in the case.
“At last, I’ve managed it, so let’s see if I can finally rest now,” Castillo told Antena 3 TV in an interview that aired Wednesday, a day before her death.
“I just cannot go on anymore.”
“I simply want to go in peace and stop suffering,” she added.
“I can’t handle this family anymore, I can’t handle the pain, I can’t handle everything that haunts me from what I’ve been through,” Noelia stated.
Noelia recalled during the interview that she entered foster care when she was 13 after her parents split, and accused her father of neglect, saying he ‘never calls’.
“What does he want me alive for, just to keep me in a hospital?” she asked.
Castillo’s father opposed her decision up until the end and was represented by the conservative Catholic organisation Abogados Cristianos.
Solicitor, Polonia Castellanos, said Castillo’s family was deeply disappointed with the outcome, and believed the Spanish government had abandoned and failed their daughter by allowing her to die.
“Death is the last option, especially when you’re very young,” Castellanos said.
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